Chefs' Secrets: Cappy's Endive, Apple and Gorgonzola Dolce salad.

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Endive, Apple, and Gorgonzola Dolce Salad is a popular creation by executive chef Gabriel Ibarra at Cappy's.

Endive, Apple, and Gorgonzola Dolce Salad is a popular creation by executive chef Gabriel Ibarra at Cappy's.

Photo: HELEN L. MONTOYA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Chefs' Secrets: Cappy's Endive, Apple and Gorgonzola Dolce salad.

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Dear Pat: My husband and I love a salad that we get at Cappy's and were wondering if you could get the recipe so we could prepare it at home. It has endive, apples and gorgonzola cheese in it and is so yummy I'm tempted to lick the plate when I order it! Thanks.

Dear Yvonne: Executive chef Gabriel Ibarra heads up the kitchen at Suzy and Cappy Lawton's ever-popular Cappy's Restaurant, and his talent is evident with just one bite of his ethereal Endive, Apple and Gorgonzola Dolce Salad.

Both slightly bitter Belgian endive and crisp, tart apple pair magnificently with the walnuts and the sweetness of the walnuts makes them the perfect foil for the salty gorgonzola. To top it off, Ibarra's outstanding Creamy Walnut Dressing is the ideal complement to the salad. A touch of honey counters the vinegar and lemon juice, the tang of buttermilk revs up the mayonnaise (and lowers the fat content), and the paprika and cayenne add just a hint of heat.

A great recipe deserves the best of ingredients. Obviously, the walnuts play a big role in this salad, so be sure they're fresh. Those kept over a year in the back of the freezer can turn bitter and ruin the dish. The gorgonzola dolce, or “sweet” gorgonzola, is the soft, mild version (as opposed to the aged, stronger-flavored) of Italy's blue cheese. Belgian endive, the cigar-shaped, creamy-colored star of this salad, should be crisp and unblemished, with firmly packed heads sporting pale, yellow-green tips. It's at its peak during winter months. Belgian endive is closely related to, and frequently confused with its cousins, curly endive, also called frisée, with its feathery, delicate leaves, or escarole, aka chicory, with broad, pale green leaves.